2019 Albuquerque-Brunswick tornado outbreak
The '''2019 Albuquerque-Brunswick tornado outbreak '''was a powerful tornado outbreak which produced 16 tornadoes. The most powerful tornadoes occurred in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Brunswick, Georgia. Synopsis/Summary In the early morning hours of Saturday, August 3, a surface low was developing over Nevada. By Mid afternoon, the Low was Stalled over Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Forecasters observed a strong occluded front near the Salt Lake City area. With a triple point over Utah, Strong upper level support, and Dew points in the low to mid 80s, the setup seemed ripe for a severe weather outbreak. By Noon, Storms developed into a squall line. The storm ripped through the rocky mountains, leaving a swath of tree damage. By 2:00 PM, the an area of outflow setup across much of Arizona and New Mexico. By 4:00 the squall line was located about 20 miles west-southwest of Oklahoma city. The outflow had extended across mush of Texas at this point. By 8:00 PM, The storm moved offshore near Charleston, South Carolina. At this point the humid airnass had recovered across much of the South Coast. By midnight, a secondary cyclone moved toward the southwest through California and Arizona before moving into Mexico. As it approached daybreak, A storm complex developed over Arizona near the gulf of California in response to strong sea breeze from the costal waters. Also, very strong wind shear in the area promoted large looping hodographs across the area. This seemed to come together perfectly, and would create one of the largest, if not the largest tornado outbreaks in New Mexican history. By 1:00 PM, The state was full of tornadic supercells, and development was ongoing. Widespread damaging winds, large hail, and violent tornadoes were all reported. People throughout the state were shocked of the events that were taking place outside their windows. Many will remember the darkness in the sky, the smell of moisture in the air, the roaring of wind, and the tornadoes. By 9:00 PM, most of the Supercells had migrated east-southeast into Texas. However, Another supercell developed well outside the main family of storms. It seemed to be moving directly towards the major city of Albuquerque. People in the city would wake up to the noise of emergency storm warnings on there phones. They would look outside and see a huge shelf cloud directly to the West. People in hotels would see an amazing Lightning show. Meanwhile, as the large, black shelf cloud swallowed the city's skyline, a tornado warning was issued for the city. At this point, the sun had almost set completely. A funnel cloud could be seen touching down over the hills. People began to migrate downstairs to there basements. The tornado began completely rain wrapped in dime size hail and heavy rain. Meanwhile, the tornado entered the city at EF3 strength and began throwing cars for long distances, breaking windows, and knocking down the weaker buildings. The tornado would be upgraded to an EF4 tornado after hiiting the city. This would be the strongest tornado to ever hit New Mexico. Meanwhile, after this tornado, the supercell weakened and rapidly dissipated. Meanwhile, a squall line re-developed over Texas around 10:30 PM. It plowed through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, And Alabama before reaching Georgia around 5:00 AM. It was at this time tornado activity reached it's peak. Albuquerque, New Mexico EF4 The tornado moved directly into downtown, where it destroyed a section of well built homes. The tornado ripped up roads and misplaced them, cars were lifted from streets, thrown hundreds of yards and wedged into buildings. A large cement mixer was rolled over 10 times and and mangled by the twister's strong winds. Trees were completely debarked and reduced to splinters, an airplane was lifted from the ground and thrown 100 feet, and the plane's wings were severely bent and twisted. This was by far the strongest, deadliest, and largest tornado ever to occur in New Mexico. It is widely disputed to be an EF5 tornado. An upgrade seems possible as the tornado has been tested of EF5 damage in recent years. Brunswick, Georgia EF5 After the storms moved into Georgia around 5:00 AM on August 5, several PDS tornado and Severe Thunderstorm watches were issued. As the storms approached The City of Brunswick, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued as a spotter reported golf ball size hail. At 5:55 AM, a tornado warning was issued after a spotter reported a funnel cloud near Brunswick. At 6:02 AM, it was raised to a tornado emergency after several reports of major damage. The tornado then started ripping through villages before moving into Brunswick, where a trained spotter reported a wind gust to 295 miles an hour. The tornado continued into downtown where it caused EF5 damage. A hotel sustained major foundation damage. Several tall buildings were knocked over, and bricks scattered across streets, blocking roadways. This was one of the worst tornadoes ever recorded.